Micron’s new range will carry the brand RealSSD and will be available in a number of different form-factors with storage sizes from 1GB through to 64GB. The range breaks down into three core groups; these are:

RealSSD Solid State Drives

32GB and 64GB drives for use in laptops and desktop computers. These will be available in 1.8” and 2.5” form-factors and carry a native SATA II interface allowing for a single-chip controller. The key features of these drives include a 2-watt power usage when active and 50% weight reduction over similar density standard hard drives.

RealSSD Embedded USB

1 to 8GB drives meant for embedding in systems through a USB 2.0 interface. These drives are aimed at the Blade server market or any device that needs quick OS booting. They are also functional as cache drives, allowing very fast access to frequently used files on a system.

RealSSD Module

These are custom modules housed in a 25 mm by 133.5 mm casing. This form-factor allows for increased airflow making them suitable for servers

Speaking of the new RealSSD range, Dean Klein, vice president of memory system development at Micron, said:

SSDs are becoming the new storage medium, fundamentally altering the way data is stored … The storage market is ripe for innovation, and it’s an opportunity Micron is embracing given our expertise in NAND. We know how to manage NAND flash to work best with controllers, allowing us to develop an optimized SSD solution for every application.

It’s good to see more companies putting their weight behind SSD. At the moment, the prices are way too high, and the storage capacity far too low for many to consider them.

Their main advantage is currently when paired with other storage devices to increase speed of access. I would much prefer a new laptop to have a 120GB disc than a 64GB SSD on its own. For one, the price difference would be quite large, and I would soon miss the extra 56GB of storage space.

Competition is growing with Samsung, Sandisk, Seagate, and now Micron all major players. Even with this many rivals, price drops are going to be difficult due to the demand for flash memory being so high from so many different areas. It’s going to be a few years before SSDs start becoming reasonable options in our machines.